Atropa Belladonna
by brighteyedcat
Summary: HarleyIvy. After the Joker makes a near successful attempt on Harley's life, Harley once again returns to Ivy. Femslash.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** My interpretation of their relationship can be kind of dark at times so be warned. _Atropa belladonna_ is the botanical name for deadly nightshade. _Atropa_ comes from one of the Grecian fates (the one that cuts off the lifeline) and ibelladonna/i means "beautiful woman."

**i.**

Ivy never asked, but there was always a story. A different story, but always the same. This time Harley claimed it was some kind of elaborate kitchen accident. Quirking an eyebrow while offering her hand to invite the little tornado back into her life, Ivy wondered what kind of cupcakes Harley could have possibly been making to end up with a 4-inch gash across her throat, but she didn't ask. Vaguely knowing what happened was hard enough for her to stomach.

Harley scurried into her second home, blabbering on in whimsical reverie about her preciously homicidal boyfriend as she walked the familiar path from the front door to the bathroom as quickly as possible so that she wouldn't leave a trail of blood on the floor. Harley's life was a never-ending ping-pong tournament, though if there was any struggle, it never showed in her eyes. Despite all of the recurring attempts upon her life and the subsequent mending, the spark in her somehow remained undimmed.

Hopping onto the counter and swinging her legs back and forth, Harley waited for Ivy to return from wherever she kept all of her herbal tinctures and ointments. Pinching her tongue into the corner of her lips, Harley stretched a foot towards the door and kicked it closed so that she could look at herself in the full-length mirror behind it. She watched as one drop of blood after another fell from her saturated hand around her neck. Seeing that her attempts to stop the bleeding were fruitless, Harley removed her hand from the injury and lifted her chin to investigate the severity of the gash. She scoffed at it as if it were nothing more than a cat scratch, but then nearly leapt out of her skin when Ivy kicked the door back open, her hands full of bowls, towels, and bandages.

"Gosh, Red, you didn't even knock!" She complained; covering her heart with her bloodied hand in surprise, but then removing it when she saw what a mess she'd made all over the stark white collar that draped over her chest.

"It's my house," she replied curtly, setting everything but one towel in the sink. "Hands," she ordered.

Harley sat up straight as a sailor and extended her hands for Ivy, as requested. In an attempt to lighten her mood when she realized Ivy was in her night robe and had obviously been aroused from sleep, Harley dropped her jaw and stuck out her tongue, making a drab face at Ivy as if she were mocking the walking dead. Ivy didn't seem to appreciate the joke, so Harley closed her mouth and sulked back against the bathroom mirror while her friend continued to clean the blood off of her hands with the hot, damp towel.

Pausing for a minute, Harley noticed Ivy's critical eyes investigating the fresh defensive wounds on her hands and wrists that had revealed themselves after being properly cleaned. Stopping the inquisition before it began, Harley giggled and caught Ivy off guard by quickly wrapping her legs around the woman, yanking her close and hooking her ankles around one another so that Ivy couldn't get free. "Didja miss me?" She asked, her sparkling blue eyes wide and hopeful.

"Harley, quit it," Ivy said tossing the stained towel to the bathtub and grabbing Harley's ankles around her back and forcing them to untangle so that she could wiggle out from between her legs and get back to saving her life…even though what she _really_ wanted to do was scream at her until every window in her house shattered. She wanted to shove Harley's face into the mirror and point to the deep gash in her throat until Harley started giving her _answers_, and not the "kitchen accident" gag she was clinging to. She wanted to shake her until she finally snapped out of this psychotic spell the Joker had her under for reasons that Ivy would never understand. But she knew it was pointless; she'd given up on trying to awaken Harley years ago and so, went back to work.

"Aww. Not even a little?" Harley pouted, tracing over the harlequin patterns of her costume with her fingertips and then dancing them up Ivy's arm to catch her attention again.

Ivy didn't answer. She was too busy pulling sticky, blood-encrusted strands of golden hair out of Harley's gash and then cleaning the skin around it with another hot, damp towel. "Ick, Harl," she said throwing the second soiled hand towel into the bathtub.

"Tsk, it's not _that_ bad," she retorted to which Ivy responded with a heated glare. "Okay so maybe it does hurt a little," she cowered. After running a washcloth under the faucet for a second, Harley removed what was left of her make up while Ivy prepared one of her herbal remedies in a bowl.

Stirring the mixture around a bit before pinching some of it between her fingertips, Ivy took a step back towards Harley. "Now don't move," she said, lifting her fingers to the open wound below Harley's chin. "And I _mean_ it, Harl," she warned. "If you move an _inch_, I'll force that gash so deep it severs your trachea."

Harley gulped and her eyes blinked, wide and alarmed when she saw that Ivy wasn't fooling around. She bit her tongue to hold still, but as try as she might to truly resist moving, she couldn't stop her foot from nervously twitching against the cupboards under the sink. "What is that stuff?" She asked, shying away when the grayish, yellow powder Ivy had between her fingers inched ever closer to her throat.

"It will numb you as well as keep your throat from getting infected. Now just…lean back and lift your chin," she instructed, demonstrating. Harley kept flinching away from her, so Ivy put the bowl down and sank her nails into Harley's thigh until the girl to cringed under her, gasping silently in pain. "Hold. Still," she threatened.

Harley winced, but nodded in compliance before tilting her head back. She squeezed her eyes closed and sat as still as possible while Ivy dipped her fingers back into the bowl of enhanced goldenseal and kava root, then felt the fine layers of dust being sprinkled on her wound. "That stuff kind of tickles," she said, laughing a bit while peeking at Ivy with one bright blue eye.

"Holding still includes your mouth, Harl," Ivy added with a quick smirk to reassure her. Ivy stepped away for a second to retrieve fresh gauze while flashing a warning finger to her friend, instructing her to stay put. She began to dress the wound and proudly smiled to herself at how quickly Harley's injury was already responding to her medicine. Once finished, she gave Harley's leg a quick pat to let her know she could finally relax.

Harley triumphantly hopped down from the sink and yanked Ivy into an enthusiastic embrace, which Ivy resisted. Harley ignored Ivy's obvious discomfort and only let go of her so she could spin around and look at herself in the mirror. "Gosh, you're getting really good at this, Red," she said looking at the bandaging from all angles.

Ivy's eyebrows knitted at the thought, and she shook her head in effort to retrieve an appropriate answer, but instead choose to disregard Harley's comment. "How do you feel?" she asked, washing her hands.

"Like a million bucks!" Harley said, scampering out of the room and down the dark hallway towards the bedroom. When she reemerged, she pulled an old spaghetti-strapped top over her messy piggy tails and then smoothed the soft fabric down her stomach. "Cat got your tongue?" she joked, snapping her fingers in Ivy's face when she walked past her.

Shifting her focus away from Harley waltzing around practically naked in her home once again, only to notice how half-clothed she was herself, Ivy tightened her robe's sash around her waist and lazily followed Harley into the kitchen. Turning the corner, she shrieked and stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted the girl scaling the counters on her way to one of the cupboards. "Harley! You need to take it down a few notches," she continued with a forcibly calmer tone while walking over to help her get whatever she was rummaging for. "You're still half dead, you know."

"I might be half dead, but I'm all hungry," Harley shooed her away with her hand while continuing to look for something to eat. "Gee, Red, you really need to go shopping," she moped, seeing that her options for sustenance were seriously limited.

"I have plenty to eat, Harley. I just wasn't expecting you so I don't have anything saturated in sugar and artificial coloring," she said holding back a yawn and looking over at the clock. "Can't you just wait a couple of hours? It's almost 3 in the morning, Harl, and you need sleep more than you need food."

"But I might be deader 'an a doornail by then," Harley laughed, continuing to sift through the health foods for anything that might have an ounce of artificial sugary goodness in it.

"Not likely," Ivy said, rolling her eyes. "But I have another idea that might meet both our needs," she said, smirking to herself as she headed to one of the cabinets to make a certain treat for Harley.

Unimpressed with whatever Ivy was cooking up for her, but unable to find anything sweet and satisfying to eat otherwise, Harley slid off the edge of the counter so she could watch with pointed curiosity as the auburn haired beauty squeezed two droppers of some kind of substance into a glass of water, then haphazardly stirred it around.

"Drink this," Ivy demanded, handing her the elixir.

"But I'm hungry, not thirsty," she argued with a disgusted snarl as she looked down at the glass, wondering what that cloudy swirl of amber residue was.

"I wasn't asking," Ivy replied with a smile while tipping the bottom of the glass up, forcing Harley to drink its contents. "Good girl," she said patting her head when the glass was emptied.

"_Blech_," Harley spat out her tongue as shivers ran up her spine in revulsion from whatever she'd just drank against her will. "I ain't a bartender, Red, but you really make one _lousy_ cocktail."

"Ah, but my cocktails are iguaranteed/i to go straight to your head," she pointed out with a sneer. "In fact, I bet you'll never sleep so well in your entire life than you will tonight," Ivy added with a chuckle and taking the glass back from Harley to set it on the counter so she could go back to bed.

"Too bad I'm not even tired," she teased, running up along side of Ivy and wrapping her arms around her stomach. She was much more in the mood to fool around or start a riot than sleep.

"You will be," Ivy snickered with a wink over her shoulder at Harley.

"Aww, you _drugged_ me?" Harley asked, letting go of Ivy now that her playful intentions had been squashed to smithereens.

"It wouldn't be the first time," she said nonchalantly while putting the rest of her remedies back into the cabinets. "Besides, I can't have you bouncing off the walls, reinjuring yourself like last time."

"You're such a spoil-sport," she sulked. Feeling physically drained as Ivy's elixir began to take effect, Harley grabbed the counter for stability. "Rrred?" She slurred, losing her grip and nearly fainting into Ivy's arms. Her eyes blinked slower and slower as she desperately tried to focus on something, anything. She felt as if the weight of an entire ocean was about to crash upon her. "Ivy?"

"You're fine, Harl," she eased, lifting Harley back up at the waist and walking her back to the bedroom, feeling the blonde's legs wobble as dramatic fatigue took over her body. After pulling down the sheets, Ivy gently laid Harley onto the bed and sat down beside her.

"I've never been so…so _tired_…in my…" Harley whispered, her voice trailing off. She tried to keep her eyes open, but as moments passed, she was less and less able to control them. Recoiling onto what had to be the softest mattress she'd ever laid upon in her entire life, Harley pulled one of the sheets over herself and snuggled deeper against Ivy's lavender scented pillow.

"Good," Ivy said, gently taking out the incredibly knotted ponytail ties from Harley's hair and then resting her head back onto the pillow.

Hearing Harley's familiar soft and steady purr, Ivy looked down at the half-naked and totally limp girl that was now fast asleep. Smiling, Ivy took off her robe and got up to turn off the lights before sliding back under the covers with Harley, being as careful as possible not to shift the bed. She sighed blissfully when she smelled the treasured scent of night blooming jasmine growing outside her windows. She looked over at Harley beside her and a certain sad admiration came to her eyes, seeing her lying there still as death in the shaded moonlight.

Ivy tentatively ran her fingers through the girl's hair, brushing through it with great care until all the bloodied kinks and knots were free. Smoothing her imperfect blonde hair over Harley's shoulder, Ivy twirled one of the ends around her pigmented fingers then released it, watching it slide down to rest between the curves of her breasts. Silent as the creeping vines in her garden, Ivy drifted towards Harley and pressed her lips to her pale cheek, both grateful and troubled that Harley had come back to her again. She wished that one day Harley would stop returning to that deranged rat and just stay with her, but she knew that would never happen. If saving someone's life multiple times couldn't win over a girl, nothing would. Frustrated by the sick games she kept playing with Harley, Ivy rolled over in bed, pulled the sheets over her shoulder, and fell back to sleep.

Groggy as she was from Ivy's medicine, Harley forced her eyes open, one at a time, as she slowly moved a hand up to where Ivy had kissed her. Slower still, a mischievous smirk curled her lips. She looked upon Ivy's soft, auburn curls as they draped over her pillow, contrasting against the sharp mint-colored blades of her shoulders that shifted when she sank deeper into the bed. Harley followed the indented line of Ivy's spine until it disappeared under the blanket that they shared, wanting to touch and entice her, but she was too exhausted to do so. Against her will, her eyelids melted down over her eyes while a cumbersome shadow consumed her, forcing everything around her into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**ii.**

Steady as if her own life depended on it, Ivy used a razor to slice off a smaller branch from her _atropa belladonna_ plant before slathering the fresh wound in a warm wax to hasten its recovery. Returning to her laboratory table with the branch, Ivy slid the edge of the same razor into the stem so that she could open it and extract its DNA in an effort to create a toxic, hallucinogenic hybrid with the even deadlier oleander flower. As she scooped out bits of the branch's green sap into a glass tube, then mashed its black berries into another, Ivy sensed that the plant beside her was wilting. Not because she'd amputated one of its branches, but rather because of the shift in her mood.

Looking up from the table, Ivy glared at the blonde bounding across the room, blissfully ignorant of the hard work that she was trying to accomplish. Her sedation tonic had kept Harley unconscious for almost four days but now that she was well rested and sugared up, Harley was back to normal, which resulted in constant interruptions. She pondered drugging Harley again just so that she could complete her project on time and without Harley's typical screw-up interference, but figured she wasn't likely to fall for the same stunt twice. Well, maybe.

Slamming the scalpel down onto the table, Ivy snapped. "Can't you just give me _five minutes_ alone, Harley?" She yelled, irritated by the girl's nonsensical singing and prancing around as if this were some kind of fucking holiday for her.

"What for? It's not like you're performing brain surgery," she answered, swinging around one vine-covered post to another.

"I might as well be! I can't concentrate when you're filling the air with your stupid songs," she said returning her attention back to her work and carefully placing small spoonfuls of the white paste she'd made from the belladonna's flowers into a third tube for preservation.

"But you said that plants liked it when ya talked or sang to 'em. I'm just helping," she shrugged, rising to her tiptoes to touch one of Ivy's creeping vines that slithered away from her. "Well _fine_," she scoffed, spitting her tongue out at the plant.

"I don't need your _help_, Harley; I need your _silence_," she remarked as she began collecting a sample from the oleander branch. After a moment, Ivy noticed that Harley was actually being quiet for once but instead of relaxing into the silence, she got paranoid. She looked back up and paranoia confirmed, Ivy saw that Harley's fingertips were centimeters away from touching her precious egret flower. "Harley!" She yelled, to which the blonde jumped back several feet from the plant. "Don't touch that," she cautioned, wagging a finger at her.

"But I thought I was immune to everything in here?" She retorted, taking a step forward to look closer, in spite of Ivy's request to back off.

"It's not poisonous, Harl, but that doesn't mean I want your grimy, clumsy fingers all over it," she said continuing to work with the oleander flower.

"Hmph," she sulked, walking away from the flower and over towards Ivy. "I'm not clumsy," she said under her breath as she spun a chair around to sit in it backwards and leaning her arms over the back to watch Ivy.

Ivy recalled the ridiculous story Harley tried to feed her a few nights ago and snickered. "Not clumsy?" She asked, "Isn't your clumsiness what landed you back here in the first place?" When Harley didn't reply, Ivy glanced up and caught Harley affectionately fingering the white bandages around her neck, a painful reminder that Harley really _was_ only there until the Joker called for her again. "Thought so," she threw in for good measure while adding drops of various clear liquids into several vials, swirling them around a bit, then placing them into a slotted square holder.

When the blonde impatiently stood back up from the chair to find something else to do, Ivy tried a change in subject in order to keep Harley occupied. "You have no idea what we'll be capable of once I harness both of these toxins, Harl," she said with a proud look.

"Yeah?" Harley asked, glancing back at Ivy and then slinking around the table behind her. She ran her hands down Ivy's arms, leaned over her shoulder and kissed her neck once, twice. She was bored out of her mind, but the possibility of engaging in some kind of heist was about the most exciting thing she'd heard come out of Ivy's mouth all day. "Anything in mind?"

"Maybe," Ivy teased with wicked sneer while flicking the bottom of one of the test tubes with her fingernails then swirling it around some more to prevent the substances from settling too soon. "Nothing that would interest you though, I'm afraid."

"Ah come on, Red. You know I'm always up for a little mayhem. Unless you're plannin' on poisoning Mistah J, but you wouldn't do that now, would ya, Red?" Harley joked.

"Hmph," Ivy smirked, catching Harley's eyes over her shoulder. Wiping that vermin off the face of the planet would be a dream come true for a lot of people, and if anyone could do it, it would be Ivy. But the risk of losing Harley permanently as a consequence was too great. After all, having her for a few weeks at a time was better than not having her at all.

Retreating from Ivy's challenging gaze, Harley walked back over to the rows of flowers in an attempt to avoid a fight. She didn't want to know if Ivy was kidding or not and, frankly, she didn't _want_ to know. "It kinda looks like a bird, don't it, Red?" She asked, taking a step forward to get a closer look at the egret flower she'd been warned about.

"Of course it does," Ivy replied without looking up.

Annoyed that Ivy was still ignoring her, Harley smirked to herself and lifted her heels so that she could touch the delicate, white flower. Its petals were so frail that they really did feel like the feathers of a bird. However, she had only been petting the wings of the flower for a moment when the entire bloom suddenly broke off of its fragile stem.

"Eek!" Harley panicked, covering her mouth quickly so that Ivy wouldn't look up. She tried to remain calm so that she could fix it before Ivy saw what she'd done - not that she knew _how_ to fix it. First, she tried to stick the flower back onto the stem, whispering to it like Ivy did so that it would just heal itself or something, but naturally, the flower fell right back into her hand. Not only that, but her efforts to repair the one flower resulted in three more blooms to break off their stems! Harley's entire body tensed and quaked at the thought of what Ivy would do to her if she discovered that she had ruined yet another one of Ivy's plants so her mind desperately raced for a cover up.

"These samples should be ready in a couple of hours," Ivy said, getting up from the table to place several test tubes in a nearby incubator until they were cold enough for the next phase of the hybridization. "Are you hungry?"

"Uh, yeah, sure thing, Red. You know me," she joked though not at all paying attention to her. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit_, she thought as she frantically stuffed the petals that looked like tail feathers into the dirt so that they would just stay put and sprout new roots or something. Anything! Skipping over to Ivy to get her mind off of the severely damaged orchid, Harley put an arm around Ivy's shoulders and tugged her away from the lab towards the kitchen. "Ya know, I was thinking," she started, tapping her lips and angling her eyes up towards the ceiling, "would ya maybe want to do a trial run with this new pet project of yours to go blow up that new development that's threatening that endangered…whatever it is?" She asked, her eyes bright with her usual enthusiasm.

Shocked, Ivy quirked a brow at Harley, who was nervously twirling her fingers through the ends of her hair. "You were actually listening to me?"

Relieved, Harley chuckled awkwardly. She thought she'd just made that up. What luck! Shrugging away her nerves since it appeared that she was safe from bodily harm, Harley laughed again. "Of _course_ I was listening to ya, Red. I think that's just what we need, don't ya think?" Pulling Ivy close, Harley pinched her ribs with the knuckles of her other hand until Ivy couldn't resist laughing. Her blood really pumping with ideas, Harley continued to lay out her brilliant plan for Ivy. "And maybe if this stuff is really somethin' we could even break into Gotham University's lab for that climbing lily you've always wanted!"

"What?" Ivy asked, puzzled by Harley's sudden interest in _her_ interests and ceasing their little jaunt to the kitchen. She wiggled out from under Harley's arm, beyond suspicious of Harley's behavior. "What have you done?" She asked, looking around at her plants to see what was amiss.

"Who, me?" Harley giggled, covering her heart with both her hands. "Tsk, I haven't done a –" Her voice cut out when she followed Ivy's red hot glare to the floor where three of the four white egret flowers lay dead after jumping ship from the pot above. _Damn it_. "Hey…it's no big deal, right?" She chuckled, kicking the flowers into a mess of vines behind her that swallowed them up immediately. "I mean, you can grow _anything_. It's what you do. I'm sure it'll grow back," she went on, filling her best pal up with as many compliments as she could before Ivy threatened to kill her…or worse. Lord knows what she'd gone through to get that stupid bird flower in the first place.

"That's not the _point_, Harley," Ivy growled, standing at the door of the greenhouse with Harley cringing beneath her. "I _told_ you not to touch it and you did anyway! You can't even follow the simplest instructions! No wonder that creep tried to off you again!"

"Hey!" Harley snapped back. "You _know_ that's not what happened," she countered, angrily grabbing one of the empty clay pots beside her and hurling it at Ivy before the woman attacked her first. Ivy ducked out of the way, but the pot ended up shattering all over her work station, tainting several samples that were waiting to be incubated and breaking a number of empty glass vials and beakers.

Furious with Harley for being so careless, Ivy's patience was pushed over the edge. "_Get out!_" She roared, pointing to the door.

"Come on, Red, that was an accident! I'll clean everything up, I promise," she offered, chuckling a little to coax the situation as she pushed Ivy's finger away from her face. "I'll even–"  "I said, get _out_, Harley!" She yelled again, emphasizing her point by touching the wall so that the vines around the door would grow closer to the cowering fool, threatening her with their coiled, claw-like tendrils.

Harley backed away from the vines, keeping one eye on Ivy and the other on the thick branches that could very easily lift her off the ground and suck her into a permanent cocoon. "You…you don't really _mean_ that, do ya Red?" She asked quietly, tears welling up in her eyes. When Ivy's eyes only flared brighter, Harley collapsed to the floor and resorted to begging. "But where will I _go_, Ivy? I don't have anywhere else to live! _Please_ don't kick me out!"

"Not the house, Harl," Ivy said gently kicking Harley off of her feet as if she were some pathetic street mongrel. "Just…me," she added, the vines receding from Harley as Ivy walked away.

"But your lab's a mess because of my outburst. Please…" she thought for a moment, "_Make_ me clean it for you," She begged, rising from the floor and taking a step forward to touch Ivy's arm in order to somehow prove her sincerity.

Aggravated that Harley wouldn't get the hint, Ivy grabbed Harley's wrist and effortlessly flung her back against the glass door and pinned her there. But instead of fighting to get free from Ivy's grip and threatening stance, Harley succumbed to her and let out a faint moan before slowly opening her eyes and staring straight through Ivy, both antagonizing and encouraging her fury. She knew Ivy's triggers, just like she knew the Joker's, and she wasn't afraid of her. She _wanted_ Ivy to lose control. For curiosity's sake, she longed to submit to whoever Ivy wanted her to be and do whatever she commanded. The very thought fascinated and aroused Harley so much that her body instinctively melted against Ivy's like a cat in heat, begging Ivy to play with her and to mutually push their limits. However, the fury in Ivy's impossibly bright green eyes rapidly faded to something similar to disgust, and soon after, Harley felt the grip around her wrist give way as Ivy stepped back from her.

"Ivy?" Harley said, her voice quiet and pleading with her to come back.

"I'm not going to be some new toy for you to play with, Harley," Ivy said, avoiding the deranged, yet crushed blue eyes that stared back at her. Without another sound, Ivy retreated amongst her plants that shifted and grew around her, totally concealing her from sight.


	3. Chapter 3

**iii.**

A few hours after sunset, Ivy finally emerged from the more dense corners of her greenhouse only to find Harley rolled up in a ball and asleep on the floor beside the door: right where she'd left her hours ago. Sighing to herself, Ivy nudged Harley with her toes. Nothing. She nudged her again, a little more forceful this time. "Harl?" She asked, her voice softening with pity for this girl that would apparently never even learn the _concept_ of independence. "Harley, wake up," she said kneeling down to squeeze her shoulder.

Dazed, Harley looked up at Ivy, her face streaked with her black eye make up from what seemed like hours of sobbing she'd done in Ivy's absence.

"Are you still hungry?" Ivy asked while offering her a hand to get up from the floor.

Nodding while accepting Ivy's hand, Harley stood up and walked two steps behind her to the kitchen where she discovered the aromatic pot of soup Ivy had made for them. Her stomach growled, but she waited patiently as Ivy ladled soup into two bowls, sat down at the table, and then slid one of the bowls down towards her.

Harley could sense from Ivy's silence that she was still angry with her. The demeanor she had while offering the soup called to mind the way Mr. J had always disgustedly tossed her beloved hyenas a few old bones to gnaw on. She wanted to apologize and beg for Ivy's forgiveness again, but the blank look on Ivy's face as she ate gave Harley no cues on how to rectify the uncomfortable situation. And as tempting as it was, she knew jokes would only exacerbate the situation. Instead, she took the steaming bowl from the table, sat on the floor beside Ivy's chair, and stared dolefully into the broth, showing herself as the worthless mutt she felt she truly was.

"Is it too hot?" Ivy asked, breaking the silence.

"What?" Harley asked, looking up and hoping to see that Ivy's mood had changed. It hadn't.

"Is the soup too hot?" She asked again.

"Oh," she said looking down at the bowl and stirring it a little with her spoon. "No."

"Then why aren't you eating?"

_Because I'm too busy sitting down here feeling sorry for myself_, Harley thought. Lifting the spoon and gently blowing across the broth, Harley timidly took a sip. Most of the time, she was not very fond of Ivy's taste…and that was putting it lightly. This particular soup, however, was different. It contained lots of intimidating looking vegetables and other nutritional…_things_ in it, but it was still somehow really good. Too good. "What kind of soup is this?" She asked, eagerly taking another bite.

"I don't know," Ivy shrugged, pushing her empty bowl to the center of the table. "I just made it up. Why, do you actually _like_ it?"

Harley winced at the reminder of how ungrateful she'd been in the past. "Yes," she said, forcing out a smile even if Ivy was still ignoring her. God, did she know how to make a person feel insignificant.

But then a moment later, Harley felt Ivy's fingers gently sweep through her hair. She tensed up for a moment, completely thrown by this tenderness, and wondered if it was genuine. Was this Ivy's method of apologizing for being so cross with her earlier? Harley didn't really want or deserve an apology, but still…the slightest touch from Ivy's hand had a strange, tranquilizing effect on her. She was wanted again.

She glanced up at Ivy from the corner of her eye and saw that she still wasn't looking at her. She was just absently running her graceful fingers through Harley's hair, scratching the nape of her neck every so often, and twisting various blonde strands around her fingertips, then doing it all over again.

Setting her soup aside, Harley shifted closer and leaned her cheek against Ivy's thigh. Even more cautiously, Harley wrapped her arm under and around the woman's calf as she relaxed into Ivy's small hand placed at the base of her neck. "I missed you, Red," she admitted quietly.

"You miss everybody," Ivy dismissed, still weaving her fingers through Harley's tangled blonde hair.

Harley chuckled, "That's not true."

"Of course," Ivy agreed with a smirk. "There's only _one_ you really miss, isn't there?"

Harley didn't answer lest she be reminded once again about how the Joker didn't deserve her loyalty, blah blah blah.

Ivy paused for a moment before running her fingers through Harley's hair again. "Never purposefully provoke me like that ever again, Harley," she said, her voice icy and in direct contrast of how tender she was being with her hair. Finally looking down at her, "Do you understand?"

Harley quickly nodded her vacant reply and shifted closer to hold onto Ivy, unable to cope with the thought of being rejected by her again. She laid her head back down and then pressed her lips to just above Ivy's knee, hoping that Ivy would see just how deep she understood and how sorry she was.

Instead of accepting her apology, however, Ivy yanked up on Harley's hair until the girl yelped, forcing her to look up. "I'm not a substitute for your _puddin'_," she spat, "so stop trying to manipulate me into one." She leaned over her, watching as Harley's pulse in her neck started to race and her breath became shorter, heavier. She was almost too easy.

Breathless from how close Ivy was to her and yet confused as to whether this was the game she'd been after or if Ivy really was going to snap her neck in half, Harley forced herself to speak. "That's not what I was trying to –"

"Don't insult my intelligence," Ivy snapped with a strong jerk at the locks of hair clenched in her fingers.

"Ack!" Harley cried, instinctively grabbing Ivy's hands, but then letting go when Ivy glared at her. "Okay, okay. You're right; you always are. I'm sorry," she confessed, calming herself down and gently rubbing her face and hands against Ivy's thigh, pleading for her kindness. Ivy didn't respond to her so she tried another tactic: admiration. "Ivy…please," she whispered, kissing her admissions of guilt over and over again upon the woman's pale emerald skin. "Let me make it up to you." Ivy rolled her eyes and snorted at Harley, shamelessly mocking her until Harley clenched the ends of her white lab coat into her fists in order to gain her attention. "Ivy," she begged, "anything."

Sickened by how Harley was able to revel in her own humiliation, Ivy chose to exploit it. She pulled the girl up onto her knees, leant over her, and quietly gauged Harley's sincerity only to see it for the falsity she knew it was, but then offered her a kiss. Harley not only accepted, but eagerly returned it until Ivy subdued her enthusiasm. Ivy was tender with her at first; nipping at Harley's lips and pulling away prematurely whenever the aching sounds of misguided lust escaped from the maniacal jester. Meticulously, Ivy deepened their kiss by ever so slightly relaxing her grip on Harley's hair and luring her closer to the well-baited and irresistible trap in place. The kneeling girl predictably responded by running her hands up Ivy's arms, showing her unending gratitude for once again being the object of Ivy's affections.

Lifting herself off of the backs of her heels, Harley giggled as Ivy teased her with short licks and nips upon her lips. The betraying familiarity of Ivy's kisses told Harley all she needed to know: that she'd been forgiven and that everything was back to normal. She couldn't be more pleased, but then Ivy's kiss turned deadly as she suddenly took hold of Harley's back, forcing her to arch tighter against her while she expressed all of the anger and disgust she beheld for Harley in one powerful and unwavering kiss. Even though Harley was immune to Ivy's potent kiss, she now understood iexactly/i what men felt whenever Ivy kissed them, bewitching them into lovesick fools and hypnotizing them to the point where they would do anything she asked. Despite how cruel and calculating her passion could be, Harley would have died for her if Ivy asked that of her.

Ivy further released her anger by drawing Harley into her mouth and harshly biting down on her tongue until she whimpered in pain. And as much as it hurt, Harley knew Ivy was dangling precariously on the edge of her own madness and she wasn't about to give up on her. So instead of withdrawing when Ivy unclenched her teeth, Harley dared her by sinking her nails into Ivy's thighs and pressing her weight against the redhead seated above her. Hopes achieved, Ivy fell for Harley's provocation, but only long enough to allow her a solid, unexpected bite into Harley's bottom lip when the desperate little nymph attempted another kiss.

Harley's fingers fanned out and froze mid-air from the taste of blood in her mouth, _her_ blood. She rushed them up to Ivy's hands, still entangled in her hair, and grabbed them. She playfully flicked her wet velvety tongue against Ivy's stained lips until they opened so that she could bleed into her mouth, giving Ivy a taste of herself, which the woman hungrily accepted. Harley mumbled nonsense, her lip throbbing and her entire existence on fire from Ivy's dark, almost inhuman passion. Overcome by her, she lowered her mouth to kiss Ivy's thighs, leaving rouged smudges of blood and lipstick all along her light green skin.

Ivy snickered, both appalled and aroused by Harley's need for attention; at no matter the cost, it seemed. "You are one twisted little creature, aren't you, Harley Quinn?" she asked, her eyes closing when Harley pushed Ivy's legs apart and then shifted her body between them, licking away her own bloody kisses from Ivy's thighs.

Lifting the woman's white lab coat up and out of her way, Harley leaned in to kiss her stomach while snickering wickedly at Ivy's accusation. "Think so, Red?" She laughed, lifting her eyelashes a smidge to glance up at Ivy, unashamed. Rising from off the backs of her heels again, Harley leaned in and greedily let her tongue glide its way up the base of Ivy's throat to her chin, curling it back into her mouth when she released her. Smirking at the lustful glint she spotted in Ivy's eyes, "So what does that make you?"

"Hmm…I think you're about to find out," she said, maintaining her composure as best she could throughout Harley's attempts to provoke and entice her into this demented game of cat and mouse. Sliding off the chair before Harley could even catch the hint of impetuous ferocity that burned behind her eyes, Ivy forced Harley onto her back, straddled her hips and kissed a path up to her swollen and still-bleeding lips.

Harley was quick to unbutton Ivy's lab coat, but Ivy was even quicker to stop Harley's hands from reaching for her exposed skin and placing them back onto the cold kitchen tiles in order to hold her down. Harley fought Ivy, frustrated that she wasn't being allowed to touch her, but the grip Ivy had on her wrists and the pressure of her body upon her hips rendered her even more helplessly spellbound than her kiss.

Not caring about the repercussions, Harley tried again but failed to thread her fingers into Ivy's soft red tresses that were just begging to be touched. She fell back and whimpered in defeat from how strong Ivy's resolve was but then, trying a new approach, Harley relaxed into Ivy's kiss, sucking on her toxic pink tongue in an attempt to seduce her into letting her guard down. But ultimately, Harley was the one who got distracted from her goal as she giggled in masochistic rapture every time Ivy bit down on her lips, sending a short rush of hot, sweet blood into both of their mouths.

Moments after Ivy let go of Harley's wrists to rediscover every soft curve of the blonde's body, Harley slid her hands up under Ivy's lab coat again, barely even grazing the sides of Ivy's ribcage before Ivy snatched both her hands away and slammed them back to the floor. "I'm warning you, Harley," she said, raising her voice a bit.

"Aww come _on_, Red," she whined, opening her legs a touch so that Ivy could fall between them.

Ivy snorted, pushing her wrists back down onto the tiles when Harley struggled free again. "You asked for this," she said, her voice thick and demanding as she laid down on top of Harley and smiling when she heard the blonde groan in pleasure from getting at least a taste of what she'd wanted. "You're going to take whatever I give you," she said, kissing Harley's neck as her nails scraped across her thigh, "and be grateful."

--

The stars behind her eyes twinkled and flared until slowly, Harley regained consciousness. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten there, but she found herself in bed with Ivy, kissing her. A moment or so later, Harley was fully aware of what had transpired, and smiled at how tender her hair was and how battered her body was from all the venomous scratches and bite marks Ivy had left in her wake. But now, everything was calm and Harley was overcome by how affectionately Ivy was cradling her as they kissed.

She attempted to reach around Ivy to reciprocate, but gasped in pain when she discovered how tightly the thorn-studded vines encircling her wrists were still holding her hands together. Every slight tug against the thorns brought Harley a flood of recent memories, causing her to giggle quietly between kisses. Tears silently streamed paths down her cheeks and Harley gently fell onto Ivy's shoulder, weak and exhausted from the continuous lancing brought on by Ivy's thorns. Visions of darkness drifted over her as she felt fresh, wet droplets trickle down the dried ripples of blood that surrounded the tightly wound vines. Harley briefly wondered just how badly she had been bleeding throughout this intimate liaison, but ceased when she felt Ivy's fingers running through her hair again, coaxing her to relax.

Slow as molasses, Ivy's hand playfully sauntered down Harley's back until it came across the entwined, sharp vines. With a single delicate touch, Ivy commanded the vines to finally surrender the girl. Harley traced her freed hands over each and every one of her bruises and scratches, smiled, then embraced Ivy completely, having finally been given permission to touch her.

"Mmmm," Harley mumbled, nuzzling Ivy's neck and smiling as she reacquainted herself with every soft curl in Ivy's hair and every perfect curve of Ivy's physique. "Thank you," she whispered moments later after touching every last inch of her friend's uniquely hued skin and deliriously caressing her favorite parts of Ivy over and over again.

Ivy shifted away from Harley and rolled over in bed to go to sleep, but her detachment from Harley was quickly nixed when the blonde curled up tightly behind her, letting one leg slip between hers and entangling them together. Harley's hand ran down the length of Ivy's thigh before rising to her stomach again and pulling her close so that Harley could kiss the space between her shoulder blades multiple times. Ivy resisted Harley's affection for a moment, but then looked over her shoulder at Harley, watching her rest quietly in the darkness and teetering on the verge of sleep. She looked as if she might die if Ivy let go of her, but she also had that devilish little smirk on her face that Ivy adored. It seemed to Ivy that Harley had never looked so guilty or proud in her entire life.

Harley opened her eyes, catching Ivy watching her, and smiled. She leaned up to kiss Ivy's cheek, lingering there for as long as Ivy would allow her before nipping at her ear and giggling. For Ivy, this kiss and subsequent shying away to nuzzle her neck gave her more insight than Harley would ever willingly divulge. To show her understanding, Ivy placed Harley's hand over her stomach and relaxed against the warm body behind her. She knew this wouldn't last, but at least for now, Harley belonged to _her_.


End file.
